April 2017

Greetings Everyone

It is a rather sad time for our community. We lost one of our dearest members this past week when “Papa John” Craven went to be with our Lord. An entire community mourns the loss. Our prayers go out to his family.

The City of Ivanhoe experienced a severe storm this past Wednesday (March 29th). Many of us are still cleaning up from it. Representatives from the National Weather Service came by on Thursday and their calculation was that we had winds of up to 110 miles per hour. There were questions on whether or not we actually had a tornado or if it was just straight line winds. Our Emergency Management Coordinator informed me that it was confirmed that a tornado did hit Ivanhoe. Our City Marshal had close to 20 calls that afternoon. We are so grateful at this point that we did not experience the severe weather that was predicted for Sunday the 2nd of April.

FYI… We now have a Deputy City Marshal. We are thrilled to welcome Monroe Gageto our team. He is retired Houston PD and we are blessed to have him serve in this capacity.

The tower has been erected at the Fire Station for the high speed internet. The City has provided the funding for the tower and the Fire Department has allowed it to be installed on their property for one dollar a year. Council decided that investing in the tower was such a benefit to the City that it was worth the cost of the tower. Cypher Connect will be installing their equipment soon and we will finally have high speed internet with UNLIMITED DATA here in Ivanhoe!

There has been some confusion about the paving of Durwood. In 2012 the City applied for a Community Development Block Grant to pave the road. We originally thought that the grant would cover the cost of paving the entire length of the road but it only covers paving about one half of it. In fact, because of the cost, the City had to put out additional funds to get the portion done that we did.

This year we have applied for another CDBG grant for the remander of the road but it looks like Federal for this is being cut. It was not a FEMA project.

When there are questions about what is going on in Ivanhoe, please ask for the answers. Rumors abound and sadly, misinformation is put out as truth. Please come to meetings. That is the best way to keep up with what is happening. Our next meeting will be Thursday the 13th. We look forward to seeing you then!

NEWS & UPDATES

A holiday weekend is coming up and we will be having an influx of people here in Ivanhoe enjoying the beautiful surroundings.

If you decide to go out walking or riding on your golf cart, please do not go near the 200 block of Sir Henry Dr.

A court order has been issued for the removal/disposal of between 30-50 unvaccinated dogs. The owner of these animals has been bitten and is very concerned about them attacking someone else.

The City and the Court have been reaching out to many different organizations/sources to seek help in disposing of these unadoptable animals. On two previous occasions, the Houston SPCA has come out to Ivanhoe to remove dogs from the same location but we have been informed that they cannot assist us with the current situation.

Sadly there is no animal control program in Tyler County and we certainly do not have the budget to maintain one here in Ivanhoe.

We are still attempting to find a humane solution to this huge problem but in the meantime, PLEASE DO NOT GO NEAR THIS LOCATION! This has become a health and safety issue that has to be dealt with and we will be moving as quickly as possible to resolve the issue.
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Ivanhoe is getting a Dollar General!!

I received a very exciting phone call last night. The person contracted to clear the land for a Dollar General store was wanting to know exactly where he was to be working!

Dollar General will be opening by the end of this year! It will be located in Ivanhoe on Hwy 69 south of the entrance at the end of the acceleration lane!

We did not want to make the formal announcement until we were absolutely sure that it was going to happen but that time has come!

If you have an emergency/urgent situation, please dial 911. DO NOT CALL THE CITY MARSHAL’S OFFICE. You will get the help you need much more rapidly if you call 911. If our Marshal or his Deputies are on duty, they will be notified immediately by the Dispatcher. If they are not, the Dispatcher will send a County Deputy. Remember, due to limited funds, we do not have our City Marshal/Deputies on duty full time.

If your situation is not an emergency, call the Marshal’s office at 409-283-2223. If no one is there, leave a message and your call will be returned.